Finally
by Commander Zia
Summary: Sequel to White Wall Irony. "You knew this would happen." Obito says shakily, and the man doesn't bother to deny it, doesn't even ask what he's talking about. "I did."


_**A/N:**__ I actually wrote this a while ago, but I finally got around to editing it now. On a side note: __**THIS IS STILL A ONE SHOT**__. I'm sorry, but I already have two other things goin'. Maybe another sequel later? A triquel? Threequel? Anyways, I was planning on just giving closure to the Kakashi thing, but then the topic of who killed the clan came up, and I had to continue. In this verse, team 7 came back around age 14 or 15, as soon as they lugged Sasuke back to Konoha, so Sasuke had no way of knowing his brother actually did love him. Poor Sasuke :(_

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**F** i n a l l y

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His sandals slippery-slid on the tiled floor as he ran, pelted down the hallways, knocking aside flustered nurses who cursed in their squealing voices as he passed.

Thump. thump. thump.

His heart beat in his chest wildly, the thudding of war drums in his ears, chorused by the screams and cries and shouts in his head of panic and confusion and genuine fear.

Because they.

had.

been.

wrong.

'_But there's no time, Obito.'_ He could remember Kakashi's voice, quaky as a dying man's and just as desperate. _'No one would believe me, no time.'_

Obito could remember the pleading look in Kakashi's eye just last night, as he'd said in that odd voice that he couldn't make it through the night without him. He shouldn't have stayed, shouldn't have, he should have been home with the rest of them-

And in the back of his mind, a little voice only laughs, 'what rest of them?'

"Kakashi."

Obito slams the door open, it bangs against the wall and he hears nurses crying in the background but he doesn't pay them any mind. Instead he just looks down at where the man sits in bed, his hands clenching at the bedspread, his eyes turned down to the floor. But as soon as his own breathless voice hits the man his back straightens, he turns, his eyes widen in surprise and shock and relief.

"Obito." He lets out a breath, and Obito notices the skin around his eyes is bloated and pink. "Obito, you're alright."

"You knew this would happen." Obito says shakily, all of his anger is gone now that he's confronting the man, and the floor is dropping from beneath them, and the man doesn't bother to deny it, doesn't even ask what he's talking about.

"I did." Kakashi says, and only because he's known him so long does Obito pick up on the guilt.

"You knew he- you knew _everything_."

"I knew." He echoes, nods a little, and Obito suddenly feels extremely sick to his stomach.

"You knew Shisui- and Sasuke- that he'd- that's why you kept me here."

Kakashi nods again.

"I-" Obito can't find words, just confusion and terror and maybe.

a.

little.

guilt.

"I'm sorry." Is all Obito can say, finally, and he can remember the day they'd locked the man away here. His charcoal eyes had shimmered wetly as he slammed his hands down on the desk, demanded to be listened to, that he knew what he was talking about, as he told wild stories of jinchuuriki and Akatsuki and time-travel.

And he can remember the betrayal in his voice as he'd begged, as they'd ignored him and smiled sadly and given him that look you only ever give crazy people.

Kakashi didn't smile. "I know."

Obito shakes his head, he thinks about stepping forward to get closer to the Hatake but suddenly the breach of privacy feels like a terrible, terrible sin, because they'd already trod so much on the man. "I don't…"

Kakashi shrugs slowly, as if it's taking him effort not to fall to as many pieces as Obito already has. "You had no way of knowing. You always were…"

"Stupid?" Obito asks, and for once it's bitter, not joking, because now he knows it's _true_.

"Stubborn. And sensei. We're shinobi."

"And we're teammates." Obito says thickly.

Kakashi laughs unsteadily. "We were never teammates. As much as I wanted- as much as I-" He swallows and repeats it, "We were never teammates."

"I'm sorry."

Kakashi shrugs again, before patting the cot beside him. "It'll be a while before the nurses find their way over here."

Obito sits down beside him awkwardly, acutely aware of how they can feel each other's heat, they're only six or seven inches away shoulder-to-shoulder, maybe.

"I'm sorry I couldn't help you." Kakashi says finally, looking down into his lap at his hands. "I tried as hard as I could, but nothing turned out the way it was supposed to."

"I'm still alive. Sensei's still here." Obito says, feeling the sudden need to cheer the man up, he sounds so devastated all of a sudden.

Kakashi laughs. "I hoped not to put you through the same thing Sasuke had to go through with Itachi."

"Yeah…" Obito says quietly. "It hurts to lose family. Itachi was the closest thing to family I had in that place, I can't imagine how hard it must be for Sasuke, first his brother and now his parents."

Kakashi stops. "What?"

Obito shoots him a confused glance. His face is pale, and his smiling lips are falling into a frown. "What is it? I told you, it's okay-"

"No. Sasuke didn't lose Itachi. Itachi killed…" Kakashi's eyes widen in some epiphany Obito can't understand. "You said Shisui."

Obito nods impatiently. "I did. Shisui- he massacred my entire clan last night Kakashi, what do you need-"

"No," Kakashi shakes his head, "He didn't."

"Yes, he did." Obito repeats in a louder voice, standing up. "Are you playing with my head now Kakashi?"

"No, I'm not! But Itachi- why would Shisui do such a thing? He was content, a mid-ranking member of the police force, he hadn't a reason-"

"What are you talking about? After Itachi's death three months ago Shisui's never been the same! He holed himself up, spent hours and hours working, quit the force all together last month, are you saying that didn't happen to you?" By now Obito was breathing heavily, he was clutching his fists angrily by his sides.

Kakashi's wide eyes stare back at his in confusion. "No. It didn't." And then another something clicks, and his lips form a small 'o' of understanding. "Sasuke. He did it."

Obito shakes his head. "Did what? Killed the clan? He was gone at the academy-"

"No. He killed Itachi."

"What?" Obito can't even understand anymore, his brain still isn't working, and his body is still slow with the shock of everything. "Why would he do a thing like that?"

"We'll talk to Minato later." Kakashi whispers, before grabbing Obito's hand and yanking his out the door and down the hall, he's surprisingly fast for a man who hasn't stepped outside in a good nine years.

"Kakashi, what-"

"Obito, trust me."

Obito thinks back on everything, on all the mistakes he's made, shuts his mouth, and finally trusts the man.

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_Sasuke sits in the hospital bed, slumped over numbly._

_This wasn't supposed to happen._

_Not now, not now that he'd made up with his father, not now that they'd had family dinner every night, that they'd told jokes and he'd slept between them in bed had finally seen Fugaku shoot a proud smile in his direction._

_Not now, not now that he'd killed that man, that boy, he'd made sure of it._

_This shouldn't have happened._

_Sasuke rubs his forehead angrily, holding back tears._

_No._

"_Sasuke?"_

_It's a quiet, shy voice one he hasn't heard in so long his heart skips a beat._

_He lifts his head and stares at the crack in the door, where the blonde peeks in with an abashed expression and pink cheeks. "Naruto."_

"_I found sensei." Naruto finally says, smiling a little._

_Sasuke frowns. "What trouble did he get himself into this time?"_

_Naruto's lips spread even wider, showing off his white teeth. "You wouldn't even believe."_

_Sasuke sighs, slipping from bed and ignoring his aching limbs, and the black hole at the back of his mind, sucking him dry. He even manages a small, sardonic grin._

"_Try me."_


End file.
